Christian Berkel

Berkel was born on 28 October 1957 in Berlin. His father had been a military doctor in World War II. His Jewish mother fled to Argentina and returned to Germany after the end of the war.
From the age of 14 Berkel lived in Paris where he took drama lessons with Jean-Louis Barrault and Pierre Berlin. He then trained at the German Film and Television Academy Berlin and appeared on stage in Augsburg, Düsseldorf, Munich, Vienna and at the Schiller Theater.
Berkel has appeared in many German television productions before starring in the Academy Award-nominated film Downfall (2004) as Dr. Ernst-Günther Schenck. He has followed this with roles in Paul Verhoeven's film Black Book (2006) and the American films Flightplan (2005), Valkyrie (2008) and Inglourious Basterds (2009).